74. Chapter 74

And before I can think, his other hand comes to the other side of my face and his lips are on mine. Gently, gently, gently, he kisses me, and then abruptly pulls away. “I am sorry, Esme. I must have… frightened you.”

“You could never frighten me,” I whisper, and throw my arms around his neck. I wait for him to push me off, but he doesn’t.

“Wait. Before… Esme, I love you. I love you, I love you, I only left you because of what I am, I shall never do so again.”

“What are you saying?”

“I do not want to… to… do this. Not without you knowing. It would be wrong of me to mislead you, to allow you to think anything other than the truth.”

It sounds to my ears as though he’s leading up to something terrible. Like he doesn’t want to… take advantage of me? That cannot be good. I swallow. It feels dry, and my throat burns. “Tell me… tell me what the truth is, then.”

“The truth… Esme, the truth is that I love you. I truly, truly do. I wish for you to be part of my family for eternity.”

“Nothing would make me happier,” I say, relieved, and he’s kissing me, cautiously this time, and I miss something.

I press my body against him, feeling the hardness of his chest through my dress (Dear Lord I’ve been wearing this dress since I left school six days ago!) and my arms around his neck with one hand in his hair and I can feel myself just dissolving into him-

He is every bit as exquisitely lovely as Carlisle. The boy has bronze hair and the same pale skin and golden eyes. He smiles at me, tautly.

I extend my hand. “Hello. I’m Esme.”

“Edward Masen,” he says, his smile growing more honest, or at least polite. “Pleasure to meet you.”

“The same.”

Carlisle smiles. “Esme, this is my… I changed Edward several years ago. He’s like a son to me. Edward, Esme and I are going to go hunting. All right?” “Ah. Esme, just so you are aware, I can read your thoughts… it is not something I can control, and I do apologize for the intrusion. I feel it’s more polite that you know.”

I blush, but don’t feel the heat of blood in my cheeks. What’s the social convention for this? I settle on a “Thank you.”

Carlisle leads me to the woods. My first hunt. It’s a bit of a walk, but I don’t grow tired with these strong new legs. Instead, I leap each time I step forward.

I catch a smell, a strong, earthy scent, and leap for it.

The blood rushes down my throat, my teeth parting the skin easily. The deer’s body collapses in my hands, and the thirst is quenched.